Pregnant
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: My AU sequel to my previous story Divorce in a trilogy of short stories where Sean McCartney was the adulterer and not Rachel. Rachel is pregnant with twins, Mikaela and Amber, after divorcing Sean McCartney. But a shocking, tragic revelation from her mother Sharon could tear the family apart…..to be concluded in the third part. Enjoy.


**Scott & Bailey. **

**Pregnant. **

Janet bit her lip as she glanced at her watch. Since this morning, it seemed the only thing she'd been doing was staring at her watch and sending glances at the seat opposite her own.

Rachel's desk.

Janet's mind, already good at working through tasks and her own thoughts simultaneously, went to the events which had led to the present. Four months ago, Rachel's husband Sean had been caught sleeping with a trio of teenage girls under false pretenses - not a good thing for a police officer - and she'd thrown him out. Syndicate 9 had been busy investigating the Bevan case, and it was a major case. To Rachel's frustration, she'd been forced to spend a day changing the locks to keep Sean and his young son Hayden from coming back, and she'd started the divorce proceedings.

It still made Janet clench her jaw with fury on her friend's behalf; Sean's infidelity was known already to his mother, and she'd been sympathetic to Rachel at first, then she'd condemned Rachel for working long hours.

Hadn't it occurred to Mrs McCartney Rachel's field of work meant long hours? Sean must have known since he was a copper himself that Major Incident Teams usually worked late at night, and he'd been dating Rachel for a while, or driving her mad depending on your point of view, so he had no excuse.

Janet sighed as she worked on the task at hand. But her mind turned back to her talk with Rachel.

After returning to work, Janet and Rachel had gone to a restaurant and Janet had brought up pregnancy. What if Rachel was pregnant, and it turned out she was. Three weeks pregnant at the time, to be exact.

Janet sighed again, though this time it was a sad sigh.

Rachel had been pregnant before, once she'd known about, and she'd been there personally when Rachel's last pregnancy had gone down the drain.

But being raped in her teens had blown her mind open, and Janet dreaded the kind of heartbreak Rachel could suffer if she lost this baby.

Four months had passed, and Rachel was showing. She was also on unofficial maternity leave, she had taken the disclosures role in the syndicate; the work may be mind numbing and soul destroying, but it was quiet and less hair raising than the cases the syndicate usually had.

She still took her seat during the meetings, and she handed out some good ideas, but Rachel usually went straight for the disclosures office. Gill was a bit sad she didn't have Rachel actively help, but Janet had jokingly suggested they run up some bits on the latest cases to her.

How was she to know Gill would take the idea seriously?

Today...Today Rachel was running late, she was on another appointment. The last two pregnancies she'd had had ended badly, and Rachel desperately wanted kids of her own. Oh, of course she hadn't expected to want kids all of a sudden after the disaster with Sean, but like with Nick the last time she'd gotten used to the idea.

Janet kicked herself again for advising Rachel to get rid of her second baby, if she'd have known about the first pregnancy she'd have told her to keep it.

Her inattentiveness at work caught the attention of Gill, but instead of lashing out like she would normally often do, the boss just mildly came out of her office quietly. Like Janet, Gill had been worrying about Rachel for some time.

"You alright cock?" she asked quietly. Janet jumped in her seat at the sound of Gill's voice, and she looked back. Her eyes shot open in horror as if Gill was a teacher everyone feared in school, and she tried, unsuccessfully, to get back to work.

"Whoa, its okay Janet," Gill said quickly holding her hands up, inwardly she enjoyed the fact her team worked hard, but she was...disturbed she was so feared. "I'm worried about her too."

Janet calmed down, and mindful of everyone else in the office she got up and dragged Gill back into the latter's office. "I dunno what's keeping her," Janet fretted. "She only said she'd be at the clinic for an hour, she should've been in an hour ago."

The phone on Gill's desk rang before the boss could say anything to reassure her long time friend. Irritably Gill picked it up, and listened to the voice on the other end. Janet blinked as Gill's face shifted from irritable to puzzled, and concerned.

"Yeah, she can come up," she said as she put down the phone, and stared at Janet. "Rachel's here, Alison's with her."

Janet stared back, confused. Since when had Alison turned up at the station?

Alison and Rachel appeared a few minutes later. Janet and Gill both felt their concern rise a couple of notches when they took in the scene; Alison was practically carrying her younger sister to her desk.

Rachel...she looked shellshocked.

For one terrible moment, Janet thought Rachel had lost her baby again, but she hadn't. The baby bump was still there, she was still pregnant, so why did she look as though her entire world had shattered from under her feet? The rest of the team were paying attention too.

Alison glanced up at them as she escorted her sister to her usual seat. "Hi Gill, hi Janet. Sorry 'bout this."

Gill waved the apology away. "It's okay. What's happened?"

Alison looked down at her sister. "Shall I tell them, or should I leave it to you?"

Rachel opened her mouth, but she didn't reply to her sister's question. In fact, she sounded so out of it, and she barely made any sense. Janet only made out a few words. "Two...how will I cope? ...twins."

That was enough for the listening police officers, and everyone looked at Alison in shock. "Rachel's pregnant with twins?!"

Alison only nodded, her eyes flicking to Rachel now and again.

* * *

When Rachel was finished at work for the day, she went round to Alison's. Her sister had demanded she come immediately to her place before going home - they needed to talk.

Always in the past, Rachel ignored or hesitated going to her sisters, but now she was pregnant she needed Alison more than she'd ever done before. The revelation she was pregnant with twins made her more determined to have her older sister in her life.

When Rachel arrived, she was surprised to find Alison alone in the house. Tony, her husband, had taken the kids out for the night so the two sisters could have time to themselves. Rachel didn't know whether to feel guilty for not spending more time with her nieces and nephews, or grateful she could spend some time with her sister.

Alison made them both a cuppa, and within moments of Rachel's arrival they were both on the couch.

"Have you heard from mum?" Alison asked conversationally over the rim of her mug. She didn't care about her mother. No, the woman had dropped her family, leaving her eldest child to take care of everyone in the family, get a job, drop school...all so she could fuck around. Alison was only asking out of curiosity.

Rachel nodded quietly, her mouth full of tea. "She keeps texting me," she said after she'd swallowed. "Sean's mother's dropped her as a friend, the divorce really hit him according to her. The coward never even bothered to own up to what the hell had happened."

Alison shook her head. She'd been let down badly when Sean had just abandoned Rachel, though her sister hadn't been broken up about it. The story of how Rachel had caught him in bed with three kids had pissed her off, she'd been all set to hunt the bastard down.

But her sister needed her, Alison got the impression Rachel wouldn't have minded if she'd gone after Sean, but her younger sister didn't want her to be arrested. Dom had made the mistake of taking a drunken Rachel too literally, and he was now in prison for murder. Privately, Alison didn't really mind if their Dom was in prison; at least there she wouldn't have to concern herself with thoughts of where he was going to sleep, it was that reason that let her forgive Rachel for her mistake though she wished her younger more flighty sister had a bit more common sense. Hopefully, when the twins would be born, Rachel would get that maturity, and maybe she would get somewhere with her career plans.

Later, Rachel had told her sometime after their mother had left a nasty message on the answer machine. Apparently Sean's mum had said something to him, and he'd gone to Sharon, and he'd twisted the story around showing Rachel as the adulterous one. So, Alison, Rachel and Janet had gone to Rachel's flat, and they played the message.

The things their mother had said. For the first time ever, Rachel heard for herself what her mother was like, and she decided to never contact or speak to the bitch again. Worse, she'd just learnt she was pregnant, well all the stress got to Rachel, and she broke down.

Janet had been stunned at the putrid lies on the answering machine from the woman who called herself Rachel's mother, but she'd been a godsend for the two sisters. Alison had been besides herself too, listening to Sharon again brought back memories.

Rachel, being who she was, grabbed a copy of the pictures she'd taken the night she'd found her ex husband. Alison shuddered as she remembered the scene...

* * *

_Four months ago. _

* * *

Rachel's flat was like a bombsite minus the devastation, the emotional pain in the room was choking. Janet had never seen Rachel so devastated, never mind Alison. The aftermath of what Sharon had left behind reverberated around the room, Janet could still replay parts of the message in her mind.

_"You're a slapper...A failure, you flounce around with that bitch of a boss, and that snobby best mate of yours, but you're pathetic. You have no real life Rachel, you could've had that with Sean...Such a nice guy, and yet you broke his heart, sleeping with three guys from work. Good thing he caught you, you little slut."_

The insult to herself and to Gill Janet could overlook, she was mature enough to endure insults. It was Rachel and Alison who were suffering; Alison had practically brought her sister up after Sharon had left, so the insults to Rachel were insults to her.

Janet appreciated the logic. If anyone insulted her daughters, she'd feel the insult herself.

The blond woman went to her friends. "Rachel," Janet soothed her friend, hoping she wasn't stupid enough to take what Sharon had just said, Rachel didn't need the stress. She was in a delicate part of the pregnancy, and she needed to keep calm. "Don't you listen to her, she's wrong. You have the pictures, photographic evidence. The high ground's yours."

Alison, still reeling from hearing the familiar tones of her mother and the cruel words she'd uttered, used Janet's voice as a lifeline. "Janet's right, Rachel."

Rachel suddenly laughed bitterly. "I know she is, sis, and so were you," she looked up into Alison's eye. Her eyes were sparkling with tears. "It was Dom, all over again; I knew what she was, but I let her back into my life when I should've just closed the door. But I wanted to move on from the past, and it's nearly cost me everything.

"But you were right about mum. You were right the whole time, but I'd wanted to be the adult, give her the benefit of the doubt. She'd told me she'd changed, but she hasn't. She's still a drunk, you saw her at the reception."

Rachel looked away from her sister by blood and her sister in spirit instead of blood. For a long moment she just sat in silence, her hands caressing her stomach where her baby was.

Abruptly she got up and marched over to her computer, and she booted it up.

"Rachel, what're you doing?" Alison asked but Rachel ignored her.

Janet, however, had it figured it all out when she saw Rachel turn on her printer. "She's going to print out some more pictures, and she's going to go round to Sharon's with them."

Alison kicked herself for not thinking about that. Of course, she remembered Rachel telling her that if she wanted to pop round their mum's for a tea, she could. Sharon had given her youngest daughter her address, but now she would regret it.

She grinned maliciously at the thought of Sharon realising she was in the wrong, but being too late to do anything about it. Janet shivered at the sight of the evil look on Alisons' face, the evil wafting off the normally kind face made her swear never to get on the wrong side of either Rachel or Alison.

Rachel had ignored her sister and best friend as she opened the folder on her laptop containing the pictures. How many times had she printed copies of these out now? Divorce solicitors, her sister, her friends...Now she was printing a copy for her mother.

Her heart felt like a weight in her chest. Her mother...how many times over the years had her yearning for her mum changed to ignoring the memories she had of her? Rachel had virtually banished her from her life before their reunion, now she was disowning her mother for real. Something she should've done a long time ago, just like Alison had.

She sat patiently waiting for the printer to finish its job for the night, praying this was the last time she ever printed out this particular set of pictures.

Rachel sighed, rubbing her belly, seeking strength from her baby.

* * *

A few minutes later, Rachel was driving the two other women round to where her mother was living. Janet had offered to drive, but Alison had stopped her when she saw the look of determination on Rachel's face, and Janet had relented somewhat reluctantly, bad memories flooding her mind on the first time she'd gotten in a car with Rachel behind the wheel. Her heart had almost popped, it wasn't something she wanted to go through ever again.

But this time Janet knew what to expect, and was prepared for it. Besides Rachel was pissed off, and she wasn't in the mood - Janet was worried about her, but she needn't be; Rachel's hand was rubbing her belly, and she was keeping the speed at a minimum.

Suddenly Rachel stopped outside a rather nice house with the lights on, and the three women got out. Envelope in hand, Rachel marched ahead of Alison and Janet, her face story and set as she prepared to do something which would change her life irrevocably.

She smacked her hand against the door, ringing the doorbell. The hallway light came on, and Sharon appeared in the doorway. When she saw who was at her home, her expression tightened with distaste at the sight of her glaring daughters, and their grim faced friend. Alison was glaring hatefully at her mother, loathing burning in her eyes, and Janet was looking at her with calmer but angry eyes. Before she could say anything, Rachel began to speak, "When I found out you wanted to see me, I was dubious. I remembered how you just left us, you walked out without taking us. You never got in touch with us, sent us a birthday or Christmas present, or even a letter saying you were okay. You ruined my sister's life, and you let us spiral down.

"But I got in touch with you, not because you were my mum. I wanted to be the adult, to put the past aside, but you live in the past. You say I don't have a life; I have a career, I have amazing friends, a brilliant boss, I have a wonderful sister. What do you have? A string of lovers, illegitimate children?" Rachel sneered, "Face it, mother. You're the one without a life."

"That's not true," Sharon got her senses back. "I've been out there, where have you been? Stuck in a police station-"

Rachel cut her mother's voice off by shoving the envelope she was holding into her mother's chest. Sharon gasped at the sudden impact, and looked down at the envelope held against her chest.

"What's this?" she asked, her hands reflexively taking the envelope.

Rachel stood back silently, glaring hatefully at Sharon. When she realised she wouldn't get an answer from Rachel, Sharon opened the envelope, and gasped when she saw the pictures.

After a while of watching her mother study the pictures, Rachel started speaking again. "How could you believe Sean without even speaking to me mother?"

Sharon looked up at her daughter, daughters, her expression stricken. "Rachel-" she tried to say but her daughter wasn't having it.

Rachel held up her hand, "All that posturing, those promises you gave me at that pub...Its was all lies, wasn't it? I was embarrassed out of my mind when you made a fool of yourself at the reception, you were pissed out of your skull. Now, instead of doing what good mothers do," Rachel hid a smirk as Sharon gasped in horror at the crack, "and defending your own kid, you believed Sean's lies. Now you've got proof he was lying."

Sharon looked down at the pictures. Her breathing became erratic as she looked at her youngest daughter, her face going from shocked, to furious, and now frightened. "Rachel-" she pleaded.

Rachel shook her head. "I wish I'd never gotten in touch with you," she said, her low voice keeping Sharon quiet better than any shout, her eyes now shining with something more painful than anger.

Disappointment.

"You haven't changed one bit."

Sharon was becoming panicked, Janet saw for herself she'd gotten in touch with her children for genuine reasons, but Janet found she didn't blame Sharon for her mistake; she'd spent so long speaking to the McCartney's instead of Rachel or Alison, and she believed everything her friends said so everything became biased.

Janet saw it, but she wouldn't say a word; Sharon needed a dose of reality, and if that meant losing her children again for real this time then so be it. It was callous, but Janet couldn't find any sympathy within her to give to Sharon.

"Rachel-" Sharon tried to plead, but Rachel shook her head. "No, mother. This is it. This is goodbye. I never want to hear or see from you ever again."

Sharon stepped back, her eyes gleaming with tears. She pleaded with Rachel with her eyes, but she clearly found nothing there, so she turned desperately to Alison, and even Janet.

"Alison, please-" Sharon sobbed, her world was collapsing around her feet. And she'd brought it on herself.

But she should've expected the look of disgust on Alison's face. "No, mum," she ground out. "She's right; we're better off without you. I raised my sister and brother without you, why should the future be any different?"

Sharon put a hand over her heart, she could feel it breaking as both her daughters rejected her, and there was nothing she could do about it. Rachel silently turned away, and dragged her two sisters with her. They left Sharon on the doorstep, sobbing as she watched her daughters march off with their friend.

Leaving her alone.

* * *

_Four months later - Present day. _

* * *

Alison was pulled out her memories by Rachel's voice. "Remembering what happened?"

"It's hard not too," Alison replied, gazing at her sister. "I've wanted to truly leave her a shattered wreck, but now I feel a bit guilty. Don't you?"

Rachel snorted. She thought it a bit rich Alison, the biggest hater of Sharon Bailey, would feel guilty, but she did too. She'd gone home that night from her mum's place, feeling vindicated...But when she'd cooled down, she'd wondered if she'd gone overboard.

Maybe, in the future, she'd find it in herself to forgive her mum, but not right now.

* * *

_Three months later. _

* * *

"Thanks for inviting me round to your place, boss," Rachel said quietly, holding her glass of juice, shifting herself a little bit with her weight. She felt nervous being here, she felt like a little kid in a teacher's house.

Gill held her own glass of juice, she had to make an example tonight. "You're welcome," she grinned. "How are you doing, how's disclosures?"

"I miss going out on cases," Rachel replied honestly, "but I'm glad I'm not putting my babies in harms way."

Gill nodded, knowing what Rachel was talking about, but she saw it was a pushy subject, "Twins, I can't believe it," she commented instead.

Rachel looked away. "Neither can I."

Gill frowned. Rachel seemed happy she was pregnant, but something was clearly the matter. "What's wrong?"

Rachel rested a hand on her belly. The twins had been playing football inside her all day. A good few months had passed since she'd found out she was having twins, and Rachel had spent that time looking for a suitable cot and other supplies. She'd found out the sexes, both twins were girls. That very knowledge made her glad; girls she could handle. Girls, if you regard Elise Scott, matured faster than boys did, and Rachel honestly didn't want to raise a boy.

Who knew what would happen if she brought another Sean bloody McCartney into the world? Look at the kid he had already. Hayden reminded her of a retard, and she hadn't exactly hit it off with the kid when they'd first met, but what he'd said to her when she'd caught his dad in the act, not to mention what she'd found in his room...

"I'm just, so overwhelmed knowing I'm going to be a mother," Rachel replied honestly pushing the thoughts of Hayden out of her mind, "A mother of twins! I've always pictured myself as a mum, but never of twins."

Gill kept silent, watching as Rachel had one of her emotional moments which had become more frequent since learning she was pregnant, but even more frequent knowing she was having twins.

"I'm so worried, they're probably planning already in my stomach on all the best ways to wake me up in the middle of the night," Rachel rubbed her forehead.

Gill held back the urge to snicker; it wasn't really funny. She and Janet, they'd been there, done that. They had the awards to prove they'd survived the experiences. Gill had lost count the number of times she'd only just relaxed and Sammy had woken her up when he'd been a baby.

Unfortunately Rachel caught the humor in her eyes. "Oh, you think this is funny do ya?"

Gill held up her hands as best she could with the glass in her hand. "I'm just thinking about how much you remind me of myself and Janet; we've both been where you are now Rachel; pregnant, ready to have a baby, second guessing yourself-"

"But you've all had support from your husbands," Rachel felt bad for pointing that out the moment the words were out of her mouth. "Sorry, that was inappropriate."

Gill was quick to reassure Rachel. "No, its okay. I understand." And Gill did, she honestly did. And so did Janet. They'd let down and been let down by their husbands, and Rachel had joined the club.

"That's the problem, isn't it," Gill said; it wasn't a rhetorical question. It was fact. "You're frightened your not gonna cope without-" Her voice trailed off when Rachel's face darkened noticeably like it always did whenever the subject of Sean came up.

Rachel's face was dark with anger, but she wasn't angry with Gill. No, Gill, Janet, Alison and the others had been fantastic, she was eternally grateful to them for helping her with everything so far.

She looked away, and took a sip from her glass, and the fruit juice trickled down her throat to her relief. It stopped the bitterness she felt rising within her, and being nearly seven months pregnant it was the last thing her babies needed. Her daughters needed her to be strong and not bitter for what their father had done.

"When I found out I was pregnant, I wondered whether to tell Sean or not, then I decided I was better off without him," Rachel looked away almost shamefacedly, but Gill surprised her by putting a gentle compassionate hand on Rachel's arm. "But there've been times I've wondered-"

"Don't, Rachel," Gill warned her. "There's no point, Sean's probably found some other poor girl, and swept her off her feet."

Gill didn't tell her that she'd reported Sean, using the picture of underaged girls Rachel had given her as evidence. Already Sean was being investigated, the marriages he'd had, the break-ups and the infidelity...The number of teenage girls he'd seen, Gill wondered why the hell the sleazy bastard hadn't tried to chat his way into a school.

Rachel snorted, easily reading behind the lines of that one. She knew about the investigation thanks to overhearing Janet and Gill talking about it, but she'd kept it quiet she knew. She thought it nice her friends were looking out for her.

"You're probably right," Rachel agreed.

Gill mock sniffed. "I'm always right."

Rachel chuckled as she sniffed. "Whatever you say, Godzilla."

Gill shook her head; since her divorce and the announcement she was pregnant, Rachel had become more cheekier in the face of her boss's kindness. Gill honestly didn't mind. "Rachel, where did you get that nickname?" Not that she wasn't flattered, she loved her nickname; she just wanted to know where the hell this particular DC had gotten it.

With a shrug, Rachel smirked. It disappeared when she saw the look on Gill's face. "Remember when we first met? A few minutes later, I was thinking about you, and Godzilla just entered my mind. I suddenly had an image of you stomping all over Manchester."

Gill didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed by the image her DC had just given her, but her mind conjured an image of herself, a giantess, smashing houses and people running from her in panic.

Rachel was surprised when Gill threw back her head, and begin to cackle like a wicked witch. Gill didn't stop cackling evilly until her eyes caught sight of her guest's face. She stopped, and in moments she was sitting back on her couch calmly as if she hadn't laughed like a madwoman.

"What?" Gill asked, looking curiously at Rachel.

"You just laughed, cackling like the Wicked Witch of the West for no apparent reason," Rachel said, "and you're asking why I'm cowering away from you?" A familiar look was in her eyes; Rachel was asking her boss if she was sane.

Seeing the look and knowing what it meant, Gill laughed again, this time normally. "Sorry, I was just conjuring an image of myself as a giantess, stamping on the city. Mmm, I'd always thought you gave me that nickname simply because of my temper, never thought you had the image of me breathing fire on the city."

Rachel only just managed to stop herself from breaking out in hysterical laughter. Gill caught her eye, and they both laughed.

"Okay," Rachel chortled, "just don't kiss my twins when you cackle like that."

Gill sniffed again. "I'd never scare your kids like that, well not always."

Rachel sighed. This was nice, she and her boss had become closer, and since she'd practically disowned her mother Rachel had found Gill more of a parent than Sharon had ever been. Part of Rachel wondered what would've happened if she and Alison had been Gill's kids instead of Sharon's; one thing was sure, they'd have been raised by a mother, a proper mother. Gill had given up her job, her dream career at the NPIA to raise Sammy, and she was still a dedicated head of an MIT syndicate.

"I wish Alison and I were your daughters," Rachel murmured.

Gill looked sadly at Rachel; she'd been filled in on the incident with Sharon. "Is she still texting you?"

Rachel nodded. "I don't think she's going to give up, not this time. A few months ago I was certain I'd forgive her eventually, but she's persistent. I might change my phone and get a different number."

Gill shrugged. "It's up to you, but in the long run you might need your mum. Did you tell her you were pregnant?"

Rachel looked sheepish, and Gill shook her head. Typical Rachel.

* * *

Rachel hated the disclosures office. It was nothing more than a broom closet, stuffed full of papers on the various cases. And it was dark, not cellar dark but neglected room dark. It made the walls that much closer to the desk, and Rachel had to fight the claustrophobic feeling she was getting. But it quiet, peaceful, and there was nothing to do except sit down and file the documents for the CPS. Sitting at the single desk in the dark room, Rachel patiently put the files together to send off to the CPS.

She found a sheet with nearly illegible hand writing, and she sighed; since Kevin had been revealed to be the leak to the press during the Bevan case, the syndicate had gotten another idiot after nearly a month of peace, quiet, and for once legible documents. No, that was too unfair. Sian Turner wasn't an idiot, but she wasn't particularly smart either. When Rachel had taken the disclosures office over, she'd sighed with relief about how good her new role was.

Now they had a new DC, DC Sian Turner, who was more competent than Kevin, but was incredibly terrible at paperwork.

And Rachel had to clean up the fucking mess.

Wonderful.

She spent the next ten minutes looking for Turner's work, and when she'd finished she looked over the pile with a sigh. Great. There were over thirty different pages. As Rachel sorted through them, grumbling, she didn't notice the visitor she had. Until that is she spoke, making Rachel jump, "You're not still at that case, surely?" Gill asked, then she said, "Oh, sorry for making you jump like that."

Rachel blew out a breath. "Yeah, I'm still at it. I wish Sian was a bit more neat with her work. For the last fortnight I've had to send back the work to make her write it out properly, I don't think we're gonna be mates anytime soon."

Gill chortled. "I'm not surprised. At least she's not like Kevin." The two women fell silent as they remembered Kevin Lumb. For herself, Rachel saw not a disgraced police officer, but a wronged man. In many ways Kevin had tried to improve himself, but he'd never been given the chance; Gill and Julie Dodson had ground Kevin down, but that was merely because Kevin had acted like a prat. He'd had his moments, but all in all they'd been few and far between.

But in hindsight, what Gill had said to him after he'd received the news on his DS exams, wasn't a good move on her part. DCI Murray was like every person, she'd had no idea what was around the corner; if she had then she could've stopped Kevin leaking so much valuable information to the press.

Not to mention her hostage situation.

Rachel shuddered as she remembered the long hours spent worrying about the boss when Helen Bartlett had hijacked Gill's car, all the way to the cliff at Flamborough head.

"Maybe," Rachel conceded, "but Kevin was good in his own way."

Gill cocked her head. She had no idea what Rachel's thoughts on Kevin were, but it was clear she thought, once he'd have gotten over some of his bad habits, he could've become a good policeman. Okay, maybe he wouldn't have made DI, but reasonably far up the ladder whilst DC's like Rachel would go even higher.

But her mind came up with what she'd snidely asked him after giving him the bad news about his DS exams - Gill had no doubt that was it, the catalyst for Kevin to suddenly turn his back.

Gill wondered what Kevin was doing right at that moment, but decided she didn't care.

"True," she conceded. "But Sian's good, aside from the paperwork." Gill added when she saw Rachel's lifted eyebrow. "Do you want me to talk to her about improving the quality of her work?" Gill asked.

Rachel looked at her as if she was a saint. "Please, it would be a great help," she replied, and she started sorting through the paperwork again. Gill watched her for a moment, and she had to voice the question on everyone's mind, "You sure you're okay doing all this?" Gill asked, gesturing around the room. Gill knew Rachel was only doing this simply to keep the twins safe, she couldn't fault her for that, but she felt Rachel was wasted in this little room everyone hated.

Rachel nodded resolutely as she looked her boss in the eye. "The first time I was pregnant, I went out on the streets and was attacked, the next time I was doing god knows what 'cause the kid had died inside me weeks before. I'm not taking the risk again, now I'm going to the doctors on more appointments these past few months more than I have in the last five years. The less stress in my life, the better. But you could still bring the new cases up, and I'll have epiphanies."

Gill chuckled, nodded and left.

* * *

"I hate these stairs," Rachel growled, holding back her panting as Janet stood nearby to help her in case of an accident. Rachel had decided to go home earlier than everyone else just to get the extra sleep. "Everytime I walk up them, I feel like I'm climbing a mountain," she blew out a breath as she managed to move her foot onto the next step down, "Going up, its like I'm weighed down with blocks of concrete, going down I'm frightened I'll slip and kill my babies. Its the 21st century, we should've had a lift installed by now."

Janet shook her head. Rachel had every right to complain; lord knew how often Adrian and Gill were on the receiving ends of her moaning when she'd been carrying Elise and later Taisie.

"You could always stay at home," Janet said calmly.

Rachel winced as her feet finally made contact with the solid ground, then she sighed happily. "I'm actually tempted to do that," Rachel admitted, she winced again as she did her best to bend down to rub her ankles. "You okay?" Janet asked.

Rachel straightened as best she could. "The twins have been using my stomach for practice kicking footballs again. My back has been murdering me all day, nevermind the past week. I don't know if I'll come in tomorrow."

"Have you thought of the names yet?" Janet asked to change the subject to give Rachel something else to focus on.

Rachel stopped, and nodded. "I've narrowed the names to Athena and Amber, and Michelle and Mikaela."

"Nice choices, but why choose those names?" Janet asked curiously.

Rachel shrugged. "They sounded nice, plus they're more imaginative than Dom, Sharon, Alison and Rachel."

"Hey, I like your name," Janet said, "don't you like your name?"

"I grew up with it, I had no choice. I wanted something a bit different for my kids. Having twins, its made me broaden my choices. I want my kids to be unique."

Janet snorted. "With you as a mum, I'd be surprised if they were average."

Rachel glared at her. "Very funny," she deadpanned.

Janet merely chuckled.

* * *

"Have you picked the twin's names yet?" Alison asked.

"God, first Janet, and now you," Rachel muttered to herself before speaking loudly, "I like Athena and Amber, or Mikaela and Michelle, maybe I'll mix them up."

Alice shrugged. Personally she liked both sets of names, but she wasn't sure what Rachel would decide. For her baby names were something to consider for months before birth, then you found the decision easier to handle.

"Cross that bridge when you come to it," she told Rachel.

"I was going to do that anyway," Rachel replied.

* * *

The next day Rachel was lying on her couch, watching television the same time she was reading a book. She hadn't gone into work today, her back felt like it was a piece of kitchen wire twisted around and over. Plus the weight of the twins made it hard for her to move properly; it took her half an hour just to work through her back pain to get out of bed, and even after she'd had something to eat she couldn't stay on her feet.

There'd been no way she could've gone to work today, so she called the office and told them she couldn't come.

Rachel had cleaned the flat as best she could, often checking on the room she'd prepared for the twins. The changing table was neatly arranged next to the window, a bag of nappies, lotions nearby. The cot itself was old, a lovely dark wooden thing with beautifully carved flowers and animals on it. It may not've been handmade by Rachel, but at least it was beautiful.

She ran a hand over her belly with a smile. Soon, she thought to herself, you'll be out in the world.

The twins responded by kicking her hand. Hard.

"Ow," Rachel said, looking at her hand before glaring down at her stomach. "That's it. When you're both old enough you're gonna go into a football club, put some of that talent to good use."

Later, when she was on the couch, she thought about all the thing she couldn't wait to do with the twins. A smile graced her face as she thought about reading them stories, but Rachel was realistic enough to know it wouldn't all be fun and games. She knew, thanks to seeing how Alison and Janet interacted with their kids, raising children would be hard going.

Rachel's mindset didn't say 'oh, you've done things which were hard going before,' she knew those were a walk in the park compared to carrying and giving birth to twins. At least she'd have help from her friends and family, and she swore never to do what her mother had done.

The thought of her mother brought a scowl to Rachel's face. No, she thought, pushing aside some of the feelings of recrimination and guilt she still nursed within her as she often did when she thought of her mother. Rachel sometimes grew tempted to reach for her phone, and call her mother, but she didn't.

Maybe...she thought, when the twins were born, she would get in touch with Sharon again, invite her round and surprise her, but how would she react to her new granddaughters?

Rachel smiled sadly as she pictured her mother's reaction to the twins, but that smile hardened as she thought about what Sharon had done in her own lifetime; she could've taken them with her, they could've stayed as a family and left their father and husband to rot. Their dad had been a lost cause, even Alison had understood that, but she'd hated it when he'd died because he was still their father.

To Rachel, their father had been a waste of space; a drunk who'd fallen to pieces with Sharon's departure, but even she had to admit not all the fault rested with her mum.

There'd been other factors.

Rachel shook her head, and focused on the present. She had a couple more months to go before her babies were born, and she'd been taking classes on babycare, now she was on maternity leave officially.

A scratch of a key at the door made Rachel jump fearfully before a familiar voice called out, "Rachel, you okay?"

It was Janet.

Raising her voice, Rachel called out in relief, "I'm in here Janet. How's work and the girls, and Dorothy?"

Janet appeared, and leaned against the doorframe. She looked down at Rachel with a smile. "Don't tell me you've been lying there all day. Oh, work's not to bad. We cleared up the last case, thanks for the insights there," Rachel grinned a bit smugly, making Janet shake her head fondly, "Taisie and Elise are okay. They're asking about you, wondering if they can be there when the twins are born, if they'll have babysitting rights, and mum," Here Janet grimaced slightly as she always did whenever the subject of her mum and Rachel came up, "Mum has asked how you are; I figured it was 'cause of how you'd decided to keep the twins instead of-" she stopped when she realised her words were ill chosen.

She wished she could suck her words back in her mouth, but it was too late.

"What?" Rachel sat up straighter, looking at Janet as two horrifying ideas entered her mind.

Janet sighed, this was what she hated, being the middle woman between her mother and Rachel. She saw the rising temper in her best friend's face as she clutched reflexively her pregnant belly protectively, and she braced herself, "She thought when we found out you were pregnant, you'd either have an abortion, or have the twins adopted."

The explosion Janet had feared never came; instead Rachel collapsed backwards back on the couch, staring up at Janet with tears trickling down her face.

"How can she think that?" The brunette asked, her voice sounding like a football had gone into her stomach and winded her. "How can she think she knows me, and yet doesn't?"

Janet bit her lip awkwardly. "I've been thinking about something for a while," she confessed.

Rachel looked at her curiously, but she didn't say a word. Janet took a deep breath and got it all out before Rachel went ballistic. "I was thinking about you and my mum, just talking for once instead of sniping at one another."

Rachel stared back at her friend as if she'd grown an extra head and a new pair of arms. "Janet, I have tried to be friendly with your mother," she reminded her, "I've been on my best behavior, she wouldn't stop looking down her nose at me. That ships passed by."

"Don't be so sure," Janet was prepared to bring up times when things which seemed final, weren't. She was about to open her mouth to bring them out, but she stopped herself; one of her examples was Sharon, and she remembered only too well how that had ended.

She'd witnessed it personally.

"This is my idea..." Janet said at last. She told Rachel her radical plan, using carefully chosen but simple phrases to emphasise the plan better than long sentences could.

For herself Rachel was taken aback by how simple Janet's plan was, but there were snags to it. The plan hinged on a certain product Dorothy used for herself, and Rachel having it.

* * *

The doorbell went a week later.

Rachel struggled to get out of her seat in the living room, switching the already full kettle on, and waddled all the way to the front door, huffing with the weight she felt. She felt nervous about this, and she hoped it went well. It seemed to take an eternity for her to reach the door, something which irritated the already impatient visitor, who just rang the bell more insistently.

"All right, all right," Rachel called impatiently as she got nearer to the door. "Give me a chance."

She opened the door, and she had to pretend to be surprised to see Dorothy, "Dorothy, hi. How're you doing?" She asked, doing her best to keep her voice cheerful.

Dorothy's face twisted in distaste as it always did whenever her eyes met Rachel. "Rachel," she greeted, swallowing her disdain and tried to be civil. Instead she looked Rachel up and down. Rachel was wearing a simple dark blue dress to better fit her rather than trousers and jumpers. Her eyes went up to meet Rachel's own brown eyes. "Janet said you had a tube of this at your home," she held up an empty tube of handcream.

"Yes, I do," Rachel hoped her acting skills were as good as she thought them to be, "I've got some, but why come to me? Couldn't you have gotten one from the chemists, or some other cream?"

Dorothy sneered at Rachel. "I'm allergic to some of those creams, this one is top quality," Dorothy's voice became reluctant as she ground out, "Janet told me you had some, now have you got the cream or not?"

Rachel bit back her automatic, snarky reply, and simply diplomatically said, "I'll need to root around for the cream, I rarely use it. But why don't you come in and have a cup of tea, please? I've got some lemon puffs."

Dorothy's eyes widened at the mention of her favorite biscuits, and her mind warred with itself. Maybe, a voice in her mind said, maybe having a cup of tea would be a nice thing after all...

"Jacobs," Rachel said, turning the temptation up a notch.

No, Dorothy said to herself, this is Rachel Bailey, the most annoying, arrogant woman ever...

"From Waitrose," Rachel finished.

That was it, Dorothy caved in.

As she followed Rachel into her flat, Dorothy saw for herself the lengths the younger woman was going to for the unborn twins. She saw the playpen in the living room, the changing table and cot in the spare bedroom...and was that a fridge with a microwave next to it?

Mystified Dorothy followed Rachel into the kitchen, and watched the brunette make the tea and get the biscuits. Rachel had to resist taunting Dorothy with the lemon puffs, instead she just opened the packet, and piled them onto a plate.

Huffing like an overweight elephant, Rachel only just managed to pour the tea.

Dorothy watched her torn between offering to help her since she was pregnant and not doing anything. Compassion won out. "Do you need some help?" she asked.

"Hmm?" Rachel asked absently, gazing at her for a second. Then she realised what Dorothy was asking, and she herself was torn between having some help or doing it herself. "If you could do the milks and sugars that would be fantastic. Sugar's on the top," she said when she realised with her weight from the babies, she could be here all day.

Dorothy stood up and she had to fight to recall the way Rachel took her tea. She watched the younger woman out of the corner of her eye, watched as Rachel had a hand supporting her back, the other working on the teas.

"Janet says the twins are kicking," Dorothy said in an attempt to make conversation.

Rachel winced, cursing Dorothy's timing; the twins had delivered one massive kick together just as she said that. Dorothy saw the wince, she flinched as well, recognising what it was.

"Sorry, bad timing," Dorothy apologised.

Rachel waved it off as they took their teas and biscuits to the table. "Don't worry," she said as she sat down, Dorothy following suit, "If they keep it up, kicking me to death on the inside, the twins will go into a football club. Then I can watch them kick a football and see it dented rather than my stomach."

No-one out of the duo was more surprised than Dorothy herself when she started to laugh. Rachel watched her for a moment, then she joined in as well. As the two women laughed, they caught each others eye. Dorothy stared at Rachel, and for the first time in her life she asked herself why she disliked this woman so much.

She guessed it had something to do with Janet's own earlier descriptions of her - the way Rachel had endangered Janet's life by driving like a maniac, behaving more like the Lone Ranger than a responsible police officer. Back then Janet hadn't been much of a fan of Rachel's. That kind of made Dorothy biased. Oh, Janet had changed her opinion later, but it had been too late to change Dorothy's and this was before she'd even met Rachel.

Now she was here, speaking and interacting with Rachel, on her own without anyone else, Dorothy couldn't find anything about the woman to dislike - she was pregnant, positively glowing with anticipation, and she cast loving looks down at her pregnant belly.

Rachel bit her lip suddenly as the laughter died down. She dunked one of her biscuits into her tea and took a bite, holding back the moan as the zesty taste of the lemon flavored sugar mixed with tea touched her tongue.

"What did I do?" she asked quietly, hesitantly.

Dorothy blinked in surprise. "Sorry?"

"Why do you hate me so much? You hate me so much. Why? Did I say something to you, what?"

Dorothy bit her own lip, and sighed, deciding to come clean. "No, you didn't say anything. Janet did."

Rachel looked surprised. "What?" she asked, betrayed.

"When she first met you, well you didn't exactly give Janet a good impression," Dorothy said seriously to Rachel, and the younger brunette looked away remembering her first meeting with Janet. Compared to their present relationship, Janet and Rachel had been, well far from friends; Janet had thought of Rachel as an immature, selfish and arrogant young officer who was too big headed for her own good.

And Rachel had thought Janet was a has been stuck on the career ladder; in her mind at the time Rachel had thought people who weren't moving up the ladder weren't likely to go anywhere, but it wasn't until she'd properly settled into life at the syndicate her mindset on the matter changed.

Plus, Janet wasn't some old busybody who was close to exhausting herself, she was a clever, wise and indispensable person Rachel quickly warmed up too.

But those earlier days...It made Rachel cringe, being where she was now, divorced from a cheating husband, pregnant with twins, more mature, and a second from advancing on the career ladder with the hope being a mother would make her more responsible for her actions, to think she had almost killed herself and her best friend, though at the time she and Janet hadn't been very friendly, in a car crash.

Today, Rachel could and would never consider doing something along those lines.

Rachel looked away, then turned back, nodding her head. "I remember," was all she said.

Dorothy cocked her head. Was that it?

It wasn't it.

Rachel sighed, "I look back, especially now," she noticeably ran a hand up her belly for emphasis, "and I feel disgusted with myself." She drank some tea to steady her nerves and hormones. "I think back to Nick, to the second time I was pregnant...and I lost the baby," she looked down sadly at where the twins had taken up residence. "I lost your sister," she murmured, rubbing her belly sadly.

The twins, feeling their mothers sadness, kicked her stomach lightly to ease her pain. Rachel felt the less painful kick, and smiled. She sensed what it was. Thanks girls, she thought to herself.

Dorothy watched in amazement as Rachel smiled down at her belly as if seeing the twins properly. She remembered when she'd been pregnant with Janet, she'd gotten sad at her dog's passing, and Janet sensed her sadness and being Janet she'd tried to sooth her mother's pain. Bless her.

"I was stupid then, I still am," Rachel said, tears shining in her eyes. "I've made so many bad choices, and what's happened; my brothers in prison for a murder of someone I'd thought I'd loved, and my mother chose my ex's side instead of asking for my story."

Dorothy got up and without hesitation she went over to Rachel and wrapped her in a hug. Rachel gave a surprised start, but she settled into Dorothy's warm embrace as she cried, all the stress and pain that had been mounting up burst loose.

Part of Rachel was understandably embarrassed, she'd hoped to keep her composure; okay so she'd guessed Dorothy would have had a go at her, but she'd hoped her composure wouldn't have fallen.

Worse, breaking out into tears had been the last thing Rachel had wanted, but she was eternally grateful for her friends mother being there to comfort her.

"Sorry," Rachel gasped, she tried to pull away.

But Dorothy wasn't having that; she pulled Rachel towards her. "Shh, its okay. Relax."

And Rachel did. She picked up a towel, and showed Dorothy the handcream from underneath. "Your handcream, and thanks," Rachel smiled sheepishly. Dorothy took the cream, and glowered down at Rachel for a moment when she realised she'd been conned, but she grinned at Rachel.

* * *

"I didn't know you told your mum I was a pain," Rachel said to Janet after Dorothy had left.

Janet paused with her mug of tea halfway to her mouth, staring back at her best friend in surprise. "I didn't use those exact words," she commented, not bothering to refute what Rachel had just said; her pause was evidence enough if not what her mother said.

She set her mug down after a lengthy sip, folded her hands and looked Rachel straight in the eye. "You came into the office, said your name like a threat, and then interrogated me. I was reminded of Taisie," Janet ignored Rachel's nod that said it explained everything; Rachel knew what Taisie was like. "Then you drove like a maniac, pissed off witnesses and people...But you impressed me. Okay, so I told my mum, and my opinion changed, but look at it from my angle; you acted like an idiot, treated nearly everyone like dirt, competitive...How else was I supposed to see you? But I respected you, and later I grew to trust you. But, my mum has a protective streak as wide as the country, even though I'm not six years old anymore."

Rachel looked away, Janet frowned. "What?"

"I was saying to your mum I was an idiot," Rachel faced Janet again. "What, you're not gonna refute that?"

"You had your moments," Janet's lips quirked into a grin.

Rachel giggled. "Maybe, yeah."

"So, you and my mum, you mates now?"

"Wouldn't go that far."

Janet sighed dramatically, but she was still smiling.

* * *

Tony, Alison's husband woke up to the sound of a pained cry, and as his eyes and brain came into focus in the unfamiliar room, his memory cleared up. He was at his sister in laws's flat in the last days of her pregnancy to make sure Rachel got to hospital okay. She had a car, he'd argued with Alison. But his wife had pointed out labour was painful, and if she tried getting into a car on her own to drive to the hospital, the pain could make her have an argument, and if she called for an ambulance the pain would be too much to cope with.

Tony had nothing against staying with Rachel like his wife had probably suspected, he just wanted to point out other options.

Rachel didn't care, not when she was giving birth.

Because of the need, Tony had gone to bed in the room Rachel had prepared as a nursery half dressed in his trousers and socks, and he slipped a shirt on quickly. When he went into Rachel's bedroom, he saw at once she was ready to give birth, her bedsheets were soaked from where her water had broken.

"Hey, hey," Tony remonstrated as Rachel tried to get out of bed, tried being the word. Her contractions were getting worse. "Wait for me."

"Have you got your keys?" Rachel asked, biting her lip as she felt another contraction.

Tony patted his pocket. "Yeah."

After getting Rachel into his car, Tony closed and locked Rachel's flat, a bag in his hand. Rachel was in too much pain to care about the journey as her brother in law drove her to hospital.

* * *

Alison, Gill, Janet, Elise and Taisie, Dorothy, the majority of syndicate 9, Rachel's niece Holly was there, all completely exhausted, but waiting in anticipation for the birth of Rachel's twin girls were in the hall outside, listening to Rachel's screams of pain. They'd had to endure four hours of listening to Rachel scream in pain, to listen to her shout, scream, and verbally abuse the doctors and nurses who were trying to help her. Elise and Taisie, who were both teenagers and had practically learnt the amazing art of swearing at school, colored at the creative threats and curses made up of words they would never have dreamt in their lives as being strung together like that.

Alison, Janet and Gill had gone in to see if they could help, and they still checked up on Rachel; they stayed around longer than any one else, for four hours. The only exception was Tony, the doctors had mistaken him as Rachel's husband, but he'd corrected them. Rachel wouldn't say it but she was delighted Tony was there, and it made her think of Sean. Part of Rachel had wondered idly during labour as the pain stabbed her time and again, what Sean was doing right at that moment; she'd confronted Gill about the investigation into PC McCartney, or rather former PC McCartney. He'd been kicked out of the force a good three months ago after all three of the girls in Rachel's pictures had been identified. It had pissed off and frightened the families of the girls, and they'd been pressing charges, threatening lawsuits and god knows what against the police...Then Rachel invited the three girls and their families to her place for a chat and a cup of tea.

It was strange; since she'd learnt she was pregnant, Rachel wanted peace and quiet. She wasn't interested in fighting anymore, oh she'd fight tooth and nail for her job and the twins too when they needed it, but generally she wasn't interested in fighting.

She was naturally a kind hearted woman, though her upbringing did mean she sometimes acted without thinking, and that was one of her worst weaknesses.

It wasn't exactly police procedure, but Rachel hadn't cared. She didn't want the police force she loved dragged through the dirt because of her ex husband, when she'd taken the pictures she hadn't expected them to be used like that, but the police had needed to be honest with the girls, and that meant telling their parents the truth.

Rachel had told Gill she could speak to their families, and she'd even asked to speak to the Chief Constable himself. Rutterford had been surprised, but he'd listened to Gill Murray since they were friends, and she'd told him Rachel wouldn't have made the request if she hadn't been sincere. Rutterford didn't doubt that, and he'd listened to Rachel, then he'd agreed to arrange a meeting with the families. Rachel had asked for the meeting to take place at her flat, where she felt more comfortable. The Assistant Chief Con, who had little respect for Rachel like Rutterford did, had wanted the meeting at a police station where it would've been more official, but Rachel had argued, saying that she was pregnant, and she needed the comfort of her home.

She'd also pointed out an official meeting might make the parents nervous, but to have them comfortable would be a benefit.

A few days later, Rachel had met the three girls she'd caught in bed having sex with Sean with their parents, understandably the girls had been anxious about the meeting since they remembered Rachel and the way she'd reacted to Sean shagging them, but they were as surprised as their parents that Rachel was so accepting and forgiving.

The girls had expected her to lash out at them, their parents had been surprised a police officer who was clearly pregnant would want to speak to them in an unofficial capacity. But they quickly discovered Rachel was only being forgiving because she'd wanted to find a reason to get rid of Sean; the three families listened as Rachel told them her marriage was rushed, it had been a mistake to marry him. Now she found he had been seeing teenagers behind her back, and it wasn't just her. The parents had noticed the way Rachel had spoken about Sean, resentfully, but she was pleased to be carrying twins. That warmed her to them, and after the meeting, the parents had dropped the charges when they found out Sean had messed with the woman he was supposed to stay faithful to.

Unlike Rachel, who'd had to make do with only one set of pictures for evidence, DS Karen Miller had a ton of incriminating evidence. Rachel had informed her about the investigation, but Karen had been hesitant at first before deciding if there was a way to metaphorically castrate Sean it was to hand over what she had.

Like Rachel, Karen had just wanted to get Sean out of her life, but with the investigation she decided to fan the flames. Sean had shattered some of Karen's self esteem, which was one of the reasons she'd kept most of the evidence to herself after the divorce, but thanks to Rachel she came out of her shell, and she presented the evidence she herself had gathered.

And there was a lot. It kept the investigation team busy to find the girls on that one, but they managed it. Karen and Rachel had more in common than most believed, and what they went through with Sean brought them together.

That and the fact Rachel was pregnant with twins.

Karen wasn't surprised when Rachel told her she wasn't going to tell Sean about the twins. After all she would've done the same, unfortunately Hayden had been born before Karen had found what Sean was doing behind her back.

The next contraction brought Rachel out of her reverie, and she screamed. The pain was all she could focus on, even the voices of her friends and her sister were distant, but she heard the doctors say, "One of the twins is crowning." Rachel almost cried in relief and exhaustion. Janet hadn't been exaggerating about childbirth.

She gathered up as much energy as she could, and pushed hard, screaming all the way. The first baby announced herself to the world with a wet splosh of blood and amniotic fluids, and then she started crying. Rachel stilled at the sound of her daughter's first cry, tears trickling down her face in relief. She barely heard the doctor telling her she had another baby to deliver, but she did feel her second daughter's impatient kick. Feeling slightly sheepish, Rachel gathered the rest of her energy, and pushed.

It took another couple of hours before both baby girls were born, and they were wrapped in blankets. Janet was holding one baby, Taisie was standing next to her, gazing down and cooing over the baby girl whilst her elder sister tickled the baby lightly on her chin, and Alison was holding the other, tears trickling down her face as she held onto her niece.

Both women were amongst crowds of people as they fawned over the twins, when Alison asked a good question, "How are we going to tell them apart?"

Rachel did her best to sit up in bed, and she held her arms out. "Can I have them back please?" When Janet and Alison handed the twins back to Rachel, she scanned their faces to see if there were any physical traits she could pick out.

It was hard though, both of these little angels were identical, but wait - the baby cradled in Rachel's right arm, on closer inspection, had a mole on her right cheek; the other baby didn't have one. Once she'd picked out that difference, the others fell like dominoes. The babies had slightly different faces; the left baby had a slightly chubbier face to her sister but Rachel guessed it would be an age thing.

The right twin had slightly different ears to her sister, they were more pointier, whilst the left twin had curvier ears.

Rachel smiled at both little girls and her heart swelled when she saw her. "Okay," she said, her mind made up, "you," she said to the girl in her left arm, "Amber, and you,"she smiled at her other daughter, "you're Mikaela."

Both twins rewarded her with a smile, liking their names.

"How do you tell them apart?" Gill asked her curiously. Like the others she'd been watching as Rachel studied the newborns thoroughly, and they were both beautiful, but she couldn't tell them apart. Yet.

Rachel smirked and told them.

"I'm their mother, I just do," she replied smugly.

Holly stepped forwards hesitantly, "Auntie Rachel?"

Rachel looked up, and her eyes brightened when they saw her niece. "Hey Hols, Do you wanna say hello?"

Holly nodded, her long dark hair bouncing, and she came over to her new cousins. Rachel, with some help with Alison, managed to gently slide Mikaela into Holly's arms.

Holly gasped when she saw her cousins's eyes looking up at her curiously. "Hey, sweetie," she whispered, "I'm your cousin Holly."

All the people in the room with cameras captured the moment for all eternity.

* * *

3 years later.

* * *

The twins were rushing around, giggling and laughing, talking a mile a minute in Gill's house. Rachel and Gill, both immune to the twins antics by now, though both them kept an eye on them as they played in their Auntie Gill's house as they chatted. Gill herself watched the twins beadily in case they broke something; the twins were naturally well behaved, but they had their moments.

"Are you sure about this?" Gill asked Rachel, watching Mikaela as she and Amber had decided on a game of police; one of the girls would be the cop, the other the villain, as the girls so childishly put it. It never failed to make Gill laugh, especially when the 'villain' spoke in a terrible mock cockney accent; Rachel had shown them too much TV.

Rachel turned away her own gaze from the twins. When her eyes met Gill's, Rachel's smile faded a bit as she thought on the best way to answer her boss's question. "It's been three years since I last spoke to her," Rachel replied, "and when I spoke to Alison 'bout it a few days ago, she seemed okay with it."

Another person would've asked and wondered if Rachel was too dependent on her sister for answers on what to do, but Gill was not one of those people. When you spent time with someone as inwardly complex as Rachel Bailey, you got to know about them as a person.

"Did she?" Gill asked honestly.

Rachel sighed, "Ali had always wanted to see mum suffer for leaving us, but that night...when she saw mum collapse to the ground, crying after I told her I wanted nothing to do with her, she didn't get any pleasure from it."

"Your sister's a nice person Rachel, I sometimes wished for Dave to die for what he did," Gill confessed to try and give Rachel the message she wasn't alone, "but whenever I thought it when I saw him in person, it wasn't as strong as it was whenever I was alone."

Rachel nodded in agreement, and she glanced back at the twins. They'd calmed down a bit and now they were just sitting quietly doodling in the coloring in books Aunt Alison had given them.

"I hope she doesn't lose it," Rachel remarked.

* * *

The next morning Rachel woke up with a sense of foreboding. Quietly, she got up and left her bedroom to go into the bathroom to have a quick wash before she woke up the girls. Just as quietly she started cleaning the flat before she took the twins out before Sharon came round for her visit. When she'd fixed the flat up enough, she went into her daughter's room, and padding across the floor Rachel gracefully slipped into a chair. She often did this before she went to work, just looking down at her two sleeping daughters.

Kimberly had once commented on Rachel's twins as being little angels, with their silk soft, cherubic faces she was right. Rachel loved looking at her baby girls as they slept. Finally she leant forwards, and with her gentle hands she shook the twins. "Mikaela, Amber, wakey-wakey, rise and shine," she said softly.

Mikaela woke up first, waking up slowly without a sound; her sister was the complete opposite, Amber was simply not a morning person. She always grumbled, whining about not getting enough kip.

"Mummy?" Mikaela asked, blinking as she watched her mother rouse her sister gently, and she rubbed her eyes. Rachel glanced at her, "Don't rub your eyes, sweetheart."

"What're we doin' today?" Mikaela asked as Amber grumbled.

Rachel bit her lip, "Well, I invited my mother, your grandma round today."

The sleepy fog around both her daughters magically disappeared; the girl's had always wondered if they had grandparents out there, they had their beloved aunties and cousins; they had Auntie Julie, Auntie Janet and Elise and Taisie, and Auntie Dorothy, Auntie Kimmy and her own kids, Auntie Alison and Uncle Tony, Holly and Sarah, and finally Auntie Gill and their big brother and big sister, Sammy and Orla. Plus they had syndicate 9 wrapped around their little fingers.

But they had always wondered about their grandparents; Rachel had told her their father had been a bad man, and his family wanted nothing to do with them, which wasn't completely wrong; before the twins had been born Mr and Mrs McCartney senior had told Rachel they never wanted to see her again, and this was before Rachel even knew she was pregnant with the twins.

The twins had been disheartened by this, they'd thought it was something they'd done but Rachel had told them it wasn't their fault, and she'd had to be honest with the girls. She told them it was more or less her fault, and Sean's. They'd asked her what she'd meant, but Rachel had told them shortly she would explain it properly when they were both older, though she'd told them it was a bad choice.

Depressed, the twins had never asked about grandparents again; they'd forgotten their mother had her own parents, but now they were awake to the news their mum's mother was coming round.

Amber jumped out of bed, her grumblings forgotten, "Granny's coming round? Your mummy? Ooh, why have we never met her before? What's she like? Will she be bringin' us pressies? Will-"

"Hey, calm down kid," Rachel interrupted her sternly, feeling a bit bad for silencing her daughter like that, but she had to tell them the truth. "Sorry, Amber, but this is important; my mother has been...away for the last few years," she explained carefully, hoping the twins wouldn't ask her where her mother had gone; the last thing she wanted were the girls whittling away her defences to find out she'd more or less disowned her mother because of her mistake. "She doesn't know about you, so I doubt she's brought you two pressies."

Amber and Mikaela were surprised by this news, and Rachel asked herself what her mother would do when she found out about the girls.

"You two had better get washed and dressed, and I want you both on your best behavior, you can still run around; I haven't seen my mother in three years, so I dunno how she'll take knowing about you."

The twins washed together, speaking excitedly at the thought of meeting their grandmother as their mother sorted out their clothes for the day. Amber, unlike her sister, preferred lighter shades of colors, Mikaela preferred dark blues and purples which helped people trying to figure out which one was whom, though all identical twins loved changing places with each other to confuse and annoy their friends and relatives, Mikaela and Amber were no exception. They managed to fool everyone except for their mother. It helped matters Mikaela had a mole on her cheek and more pointier ears to Amber's more curved ears. Most people wouldn't see beyond these differences, and Rachel hadn't told anyone how to tell the difference between the twins. No one, not even her own sister. She was waiting for one of them to figure out the differences for themselves, it was so obvious Rachel was surprised no one had yet.

Though she didn't ask for them to help, Rachel was delighted by the girls helping her to make the flat that more presentable, though if her mother noticed she wouldn't know.

Sharon turned up at around 11.00 on the dot, and Rachel quickly bundled the twins into their bedroom before going to open the door, doing a last minute check on the flat to make sure all signs of the twins were safely out of sight. It would spoil her surprise, Rachel only hoped no-one had told Sharon about the twins.

With only the slightest hesitation, Rachel opened the door. "Hello, mum, how are you?" she asked.

Sharon smiled, though it looked a little bit ragged but relieved her youngest daughter was talking to her after her mistake three years before. The stress and realisation of what she'd done had made Sharon look so unlike the person she'd appeared when Rachel and her were reunited; her hair was greyer with shades of white, and the lines around her eyes were deeper, and she had more wrinkles. The only things about Sharon which was presentable were her clothes and her lightly applied makeup. Sharon had assumed rightly that Rachel wouldn't appreciate herself dressing up like a tart after that answer phone message where she'd told her daughter she was a slapper, a slut.

"Not too bad," Sharon said honestly as Rachel stepped back to let her come inside the flat, but she didn't tell Rachel when she'd seen those pictures and Rachel had walked away she'd needed a long time to pull herself together.

But Rachel already knew, or at least she'd guessed; she remembered only too well the times Nick Savage had rode roughshod all over her life, and she'd been stupid enough to let him. She'd PNCed his car, blackmailed him virtually infront of his family, let him back into her life, she'd gotten drunk twice and had, virtually, told her brother she wished he'd die, and now Dom was in prison for her mistake.

She knew how her family dealt with their mistakes only too well, and she prayed Mikaela and Amber didn't inherit any of their family's bad habits.

"I'm just glad you're talking to me again," Sharon looked away, and Rachel wrapped her in a gentle, though hesitant hug. Her daughter's move made Sharon lose some of her control, and she started shaking, on the brink of sobbing.

Rachel tightened her grip around her mother gently but firmly. "Come with me into the living room," she whispered into her mother's ear, smelling her familiar scent. There wasn't any alcohol on her breath, thank Christ.

When Sharon was sitting comfortably on the sofa, Rachel got a wicked grin on her face which surprised Sharon. "Rachel, what is it, why are you grinning like that?"

"You can come out now," Rachel called.

Sharon gasped as two little girls, three year olds, identical twins who were the spitting image of Rachel at that age, ran into the room. Both girls were wearing pretty little sun dresses, but in different colors; the girl with the mole on her cheek was wearing a dark blue dress, and her sister was wearing a light red dress in the same style.

The two girls were beaming at her, but Sharon was gaping at them in shock. She looked up at her daughter, "You were pregnant, and you didn't tell me?" she whispered.

Rachel nodded down at the girls before looking back at her mother, Sharon got the message. She got off the couch, and knelt down in front of the twins.

"Hi," she whispered softly, greeting the twins, her voice cracking slightly as she realised how much of her granddaughter's lives she'd missed, not just Rachel's daughters, but Alison's. Hopefully, Alison would let her meet her kids. Maybe...

The girl with the mole grinned back at her, throwing herself into Sharon's arms. Sharon gasped at the impact.

"Hey, careful," Rachel scolded gently, just as Amber followed her sister's example and hugged her still surprised grandmother, though much less boisterously than Mikaela.

Sharon grinned up at her reassuringly, "It's okay Rachel," she said, hugging both girls in her arms. Finally she pulled back when she realised something, "Sorry, but since I've never heard of you both 'til now, who are you?"

There was probably a better, more motherly way Sharon could've introduced herself properly to the twins, but after being deprived of them, and even not knowing about them for three years she could be forgiven, besides Rachel didn't seem to mind.

The twins didn't either, though they stayed close to their newly found grandmother.

"I'm Amber," the twin in the light colored dress said.

Not to be outdone, the twin with the mole introduced herself brightly, "And I'm Mikaela."

Sharon smiled, though she made a mental note to ask Rachel about their names. She liked them both, and her heart was starting to warm at just looking at the girls. "Nice to meet you," she whispered, a tear unknowingly welling up in her eye.

"Why are ya cryin' grandma?" Amber asked softly.

The question made Sharon choke back a sob; it wasn't the question that made her tearful, it was the shared expression on both girls' faces. They looked so much like their mother it was scary. Like her, Sharon also realised. Rachel had gotten the majority of her looks, mannerisms and personality traits from her, and if she wasn't mistaken Amber and Mikaela also shared them.

Sharon chuckled as she compared the twins expressions with Rachel's when her daughter had been their age.

"I'm crying because I've never met you both," Sharon replied at last, "I didn't even know my Rachel was pregnant when I-"

"Went away," Rachel whispered loud enough for her mother to get the message. She did; Sharon looked up at her daughter with a frown, realising Rachel hadn't told the twins anything about what had happened, but she wasn't angry. She'd hated herself for the last three years, worse than she had done since the day she'd walked out on her daughters and son, the less said about her waste of a husband, the better, but when she'd left her kids she'd been dying inside.

When she'd reunited with her daughter, Sharon had thought she'd died and gone straight to heaven, but it all collapsed around her head when Sean had spun that tale about Rachel being the adulterer instead of telling the truth, and she'd swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Sharon had and would never forgive herself for the phone message she'd sent to Rachel; the things she'd said...she should've said them to Sean, but she'd been friends with the McCartneys for a long time, it was hard to think of Sean as a liar.

But he was, and Rachel had virtually kicked her out of her life.

Mikaela frowned adorably, "Where'd you go, grandma?"

Sharon smiled at the girl, wondering what she could say to her granddaughter without the girl seeing through the lie. "I became a businesswoman when I was younger," she said, neatly glossing over for the benefit of the twins she'd left their mother, virtually abandoning them; hopefully, if she lived long enough to watch them grow older, she, Rachel and Alison would tell the girls the truth when they were both old enough to understand. Hopefully they wouldn't disown her like her daughters had temporarily done, Sharon doubted she could handle something like that again least of all from her newly discovered granddaughters.

It had killed her when Rachel had come to her in the middle of the night with those fucking pictures.

"My job gave me a love of travelling, and I moved down to London for a bit," Sharon said, being truthful. London, compared to Manchester was massive enough for her to move about town without people knowing who she was. The last thing Sharon had wanted was to bump into Rachel's friends, particularly her boss, the fat guy with glasses, and her best friend Janet. "I went to Liverpool, Brighton, Exeter, and York, then back to Manchester."

Amber and Mikaela's eyes brightened; they'd always wanted to see the rest of the world, and Rachel had made it a point to take them on holidays whenever annual leave came round. To them, a place like London, Edinburgh or even Margate was like Christopher Columbus setting out for the New World.

"They love hearing things about places outside Manchester," Rachel remarked.

For the next hour, Rachel watched as her mother chatted with the twins, telling them about the places she'd seen. Some of the stories were obviously edited out to Rachel's relief, but otherwise they were fairly child friendly. Rachel promised herself to ask her mother about them later, right now she was enthralled with the stories.

"What made you choose the twin's names?" Sharon asked when she and her daughter sat down. The twins were busy doing their own thing, but Rachel noticed her mother glancing at the girls from time to time.

Rachel smiled. "I was looking through baby names, trying to find something that matched 'Bailey' perfectly, but there were some names I liked but didn't feel like having. I wanted my daughters to be unique."

Sharon glanced back at the twins, "They're certainly that."

Rachel licked her lips, "Do they remind you of me when I was that age?"

Sharon turned back to her, and Rachel started babbling, "It's just that when the girls say something Alison sometimes says 'your daughters' or 'they're just like you.'"

Sharon chuckled, "Well, they are like you. Mikaela's pout reminded me of times you asked me something, and I didn't understand the question."

Rachel didn't look convinced, and Sharon saw it, "Remember when you asked me, what was it? Oh yeah, where babies came from when that girl, Sarah, was pregnant? You thought she was fat, but I said she was carrying a baby. You were standing in front of me, clad in bunny slippers, wearing a dress, carrying a doll, and you asked me where babies came from." Sharon almost laughed at the memory, though when she'd brought it out of her memory she'd done misty eyed.

Rachel was surprised, then the memory surfaced in her mind, "I remember it, vaguely. I remember Sarah looking large, but I don't remember too much. I remember you glossed over some of the details," she finished with a smirk.

Sharon smiled again, though this time it was tinged with sadness, "I'm not surprised. You were pretty young at the time, you were about," she closed her eyes, bit her lip as she tried to remember where Rachel had been in her life then, "six, seven, eight weeks from your fourth birthday."

Rachel looked round to study the twins. They were playing police again, Sharon almost laughed herself to death at the sound of Amber's unpracticed cockney accent. "So I was as old as the twins when I asked that?"

Sharon nodded, "Hmm, hmm." She sobered. "I'm so sorry, Rachel. For everything."

"You hurt me, badly," Rachel said softly or else she'd frighten the kids if she lost her temper, but she didn't feel angry.

She'd burnt that out of her system long ago.

Sharon closed her eyes. "I know."

"No, I don't think you do," Rachel's retort made Sharon look at her, "I invited you back into my life. You'd said you'd changed, but what do you do; you get drunk, make a fool of yourself at my reception, and you shag one of my colleagues in the car park!"

Sharon looked away again, unable to face her daughter after that. On reflection what she'd done at Rachel's wedding had been stupid, she'd come to that herself, and god help her forget what she'd done with one of her colleagues.

"I'm not going to repeat my promises I've changed," Sharon found herself saying, "I did that when we met up in that pub."

"Yeah. You did," Rachel said quietly.

Sharon closed her eyes again, looking more pained. Suddenly she looked older to Rachel than she'd ever done before, and the younger woman was surprised. "Rachel, there's a good reason I sent you those desperate letters and calls to see you," she said hollowly, and she dug inside her handbag and pulled out a letter, handing it to Rachel who took it hesitantly.

"Open it."

Rachel opened it and read it. She gasped in horror, shaking her head, "No, it can't be true. Mum," Rachel looked at Sharon in horror, hoping this was one of her mothers cruel jokes, but it wasn't. She could feel it. "It can't be true."

Sharon swallowed, "I wish it wasn't. I'm going to play with the twins if that's okay?" She added not wanting to talk about what was in that letter, not just yet. She'd just discovered her daughter had twin daughters of her own, and she hadn't known about them until now. Most of her plans had been thrown out of the window.

Rachel felt her eyes fill with tears as she nodded. She watched Sharon smile shakily and stand up, going over towards the twins who laughed with delight as their grandmother played in their little game. Only Sharon noticed, over the heads of the twins, Rachel's teary eyes.

* * *

Sharon stayed with the small family for two hours before she left, and she hugged her new granddaughters and her daughter as she departed. She left the letter from the doctors behind, Rachel guessing rightly that her mother wanted her to tell Alison. It might've seemed manipulative, getting her youngest daughter to tell her eldest daughter, but Rachel knew Alison, despite feeling guilty about how she'd waited for a chance to tell her mother what she felt about her, was still bitter about how Sharon had walked out on the family, leaving her to pick up the pieces.

Rachel understood that. After Sharon had left, she rang up the doctor on the letter, and asked him about her mother.

It might've seemed a bit unfair believing her mother was even now lying to her, but Rachel wouldn't have put it past Sharon to lie about her health. It was...low of Rachel to think that, and unless she had an official letter telling her then she would've doubted her mother.

Well, she had a letter, and it was genuine.

When Rachel phoned the doctor, he told her about her mothers condition. Afterwards Rachel told Amber and Mikaela to leave her in peace for a bit whilst she thought on it; Amber, the more sensitive of the twins, had noticed her mother's mood, and had taken Mikaela, a girl whose personality matched Rachel's frighteningly enough, to their room to play in peace.

Rachel was never more thankful.

The peace gave her the chance to think about what she'd just learnt. Her mother was dying from leukemia, and there was nothing Rachel could do about it. Wait, there was; she could donate some of her bone marrow to Sharon to let her live a bit longer.

Rachel needed to speak to Alison about all this, now. She checked her watch and saw that Alison should be home about now. "Mikaela, Amber, get your coats and shoes on, we're going to visit Aunt Alison."

Mikaela came out of the bedroom, "Aw, do we hafta?"

Rachel was in no mood for an argument, not after what she'd just learnt. "I have to talk to her about something," she said sharply, "now, do as you're told."

Mikaela's eyes shot open in shock, then her lips began to tremble. Rachel sighed and bent down to hug her daughter. "I'm sorry love," she whispered to stop her daughter from crying. "I really need to talk to your aunt, and I can't leave you here on your own, can I?"

Mikaela nodded her chin against Rachel's shoulder, and stepped back from her mother. "Okay, mummy."

It took the twins ten minutes to get their coats and shoes on, and pretty soon they were in the car heading for Aunt Alison. The twins were quiet, sensing their mother's mood. Mikaela herself was still puzzled about what had made her mother so sad, and she was smart enough to see it had something to do with granny Sharon. What had she said?

Alison was surprised by the visit, but as always she was happy to see her younger sister and her nieces.

Her eyebrows did shoot up when Amber said, "Granny Sharon visited us today, Auntie Ali."

Alison had known about her mother's visit to Rachel's, but she was surprised by Rachel suddenly coming to see her. "I know you did, pet," Alison replied, "how was she?"

The question was more directed towards Rachel than the twins, but they answered as if their aunt had asked them, "She was fantastic auntie Ali, she played 'police' with us."

Alison laughed, but it quickly vanished when she took a good look at her baby sister for the first time. Although she was smiling down at her daughters enthusiasm, Rachel's eyes were red rimmed with tears. What the hell had happened? Had their mother said something, if she had then why weren't the twins upset?

One thing was for sure, Alison knew she couldn't get answers from Rachel with the twins here. "Why don't you go into the garden you two? Uncle Tony's out there with the kids."

After the girls had gone, Alison took Rachel into the sitting room, barely able to contain her questions.

"Rachel, what's happened? You look like you cried all the way here."

"I almost did," Rachel took the letter out of her bag, the exact way Sharon had earlier. She passed it to Alison and waited for her reaction. Alison had already dealt with their alcoholic for a father passing, but this was her mother. Their dad had simply died of alcohol abuse, but their mother...Shit. Their mother never did anything small did she?

"How serious is it?" Alison asked in a whisper; she didn't know how she felt, if she was being brutally honest with herself. She may have resented, and yes even hated her mother, she was grown up enough to admit to that, but she didn't want Sharon to die, not yet. Not so soon.

Rachel sighed, "I called the doctor. He said, if she was lucky and with chemo and bone marrow transplants, perhaps another 10 years. Maybe more, maybe less."

Alison shook her head, trying to make sense of this sudden revelation. "What're we gonna do?" Was all she could think of asking.

Rachel rolled her eyes, "I dunno. But I was hoping the pair of us can talk to her tonight, no right now."

"Now? Rachel, I've just learnt my mother, OUR mother, has leukemia and has known about it for three weeks now," Alison held the letter up with her thumb resting solely on the ink showing the date. "I've only known about it for a few minutes, you've known about it for the past few hours. I need to get my head around this-"

"Yeah, and whilst your working all this out, our mother's close to death's door, and there's so much we can do for her-"

"Like what?" Alison challenged.

Rachel shrugged, "I can donate some of my bone marrow to her to help with her treatment-"

Alison sighed as she listened to her sister. Finally she held up a hand, "Okay. I'll tell Tony to keep an eye on the kids, then we'll go round to mum's and talk to her 'bout it, kay?"

Rachel merely nodded.

* * *

The journey to Sharon's home was quiet, the only words exchanged between the two sisters were brief sentences. When they'd left Tony in charge of the kids, Alison had barely said a word. Rachel had glanced once or twice at her on the way to their mum's, and would try to speak to her since she hated silence on principal, but Alison wasn't in the mood to talk.

And Rachel didn't blame her.

Sharon was unsurprised when they arrived, nor was she surprised when she saw the letter in Alison's hand, clutched tightly like a clamp. Sharon had known if Rachel had just told her, Alison would've tried to deny what was happening. That was how things worked in the family, and Sharon deeply regretted what happened to reduce the once wonderful relationship she and her eldest child to one where they barely went 2 minutes without it turning into World War Three. She'd left the letter to prove to Alison this was not a game.

"Hi," she greeted softly.

Alison sighed, suddenly looking more harried and haggard. "How are you doing mum?"

Sharon's eyes visibly went to the letter still clutched in her daughter's hand, then to Alison's eyes. "Considering everything...not too everything."

She wasn't surprised when her daughters didn't look like they believed her, she couldn't even believe herself. In the end, Sharon sighed and led them into her home. "What're you going to do?" Rachel got the ball rolling.

Sharon sighed, "I dunno," she replied honestly; really what could she do? She'd only known about her condition for under a month, and all of her time had been trying to make plans to make amends with her children. She hadn't had time to consider treatments because of that. Now though...Sure there were treatments, but they were time consuming and they weren't magic. She could take a treatment the doctors would guarantee her would increase her life expectancy to about 7 maybe 10 years, and she'd die in half that time. Some leukemia sufferers fought hard for years beyond their doctor's expectancies, but Sharon wasn't sure if she was up to a long term battle she could barely fight, let alone win.

Rachel and Alison exchanged a look when they saw Sharon look away. "Mum," Rachel whispered, "I'd like to donate some of my bone marrow to you. It's bound to be a match."

Sharon snorted.

"What?" Alison couldn't understand her mother; here she was, suffering from leukemia, and she was snorting in Rachel's face when all she wanted was to help her.

Sharon sighed, "I don't know if I want to be treated. Look at me, the pair of you," her voice was sharp enough to demand attention without an argument, "I'm old. I've lived my life, and I feel tired right now, I don't want to suddenly be treated now only to be rejected by you and the girls again, I don't think I can take it. I dunno, if I was...30 years younger, I would probably be fighting. But now, I don't know. I've lived my life, granted," she added, "I was a terrible mother, and an embarrassment to the pair of you-"

Alison and Rachel looked at one another. This speech sounded rehearsed.

"-and I left you, I was selfish. But I've lived my life," she repeated as if trying to convince herself, "and I've never been prouder," she suddenly smiled at them, "I've got two wonderful daughters, grandchildren. That's my pride, but I want to spend the last years of my life with the pair of you and my grandchildren. I want to try and make up to you for abandoning the pair of you," she swallowed hard when she looked at Alison, "If you'll let me," she added hesitantly.

Rachel licked her lips, "You can visit my place at any time, mum."

Alison, however, was focused on something else, "How long-?" She couldn't finish the question. Rachel nudged her, but she had to admit it was a good question.

Sharon looked away, "The doctor says my chances of living with treatment, I could live another 9 maybe 10 years. But the reason I'm hesitant is because of the way I've been acting; I'm a drunkard, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I hide behind pints, laughing stupidly in pubs or clubs, fucking people I don't even know. But I've found something to live for; my grandchildren. I want to be there for them, its not the way I hoped to go, but at least I'd have known my grandkids.

"I'm afraid I'll fall back into bad habits, and I don't want to do that. I've done it too many times already, and I'm tired of it."

Rachel got up and hugged her mother, Sharon wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Thanks for offering," she whispered. "How 'bout we check up on it and see if we match? Then we'll talk."

Rachel nodded. Sharon shifted and held out an arm to Alison, who stepped hesitantly into her mother's embrace for the first time in decades.

It was almost her undoing; the moment Ali was in Sharon's arms, the woman started to cry, the control she'd put on herself to stop her sobbing slipping as she realised how much her selfishness had cost her.

"My daughters," she gasped, clutching them tightly to her chest, "my babies. I've missed you so much."

Alison and Rachel tightened their embraces around their mother, and sobbed with her.

They had no idea what would happen, but they would face it together. They were family.

End of Part Two.

**Author's note - I HATE Doc manager - it wouldn't let me upload this new story, so I had to improvise. Stupid system. Anyway, the second instalment of three ** **is up. The next one will deal with the lead up to Sharon's death. My future Scott and Bailey story the Cybernauts, that should be up in a couple more months, touch wood. I just need to iron out a few things in the plot before I edit it. I've been getting so many fan fiction ideas in my head I haven't really done much to it. **

**I hope you enjoy the story when you see it. **

**Please review this story and tell me what you think. I'd like your opinions. **


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